What Happened to Forever?
by leaf and blues
Summary: "I want to follow you forever, Lord Sesshomaru." After spending so many years living with the priestess Kaede in a simple human village, Rin is faced with the choice to stay in the village or to return to her lord's side. But unbeknownst to them, her choice will set off a chain of unlikely adventures and emotions as they search for the fountain of youth.
1. Chapter One

_**What Happened to Forever?**_

. . .

"_I want to follow you forever, Lord Sesshomaru." After spending so many years living with the priestess Kaede in a simple human village, Rin is faced with the choice to stay in the village or to return to her lord's side. But unbeknownst to them, her choice will set off a chain of unlikely adventures and emotions as they search for the fountain of youth._

. . .

**Chapter One**

"What do you mean, 'I should stay here'? You can't be serious!" Rin was clearly very angry. She had never thought that she would ever end up raising her voice at Sesshomaru, but she was very nearly screaming at him now. Still, Sesshomaru remained unmoved. "I don't want to live in a human village. I want to go with you." She wiped the fresh tears on her face. "Please."

"You'll die if you continue to travel with me like this."

"I don't care! You'll save me, won't you?"

Suddenly, Sesshomaru was right in front of her. Their height difference was great; Sesshomaru was nearly double her height and definitely several times her overall size. He knelt down on both of his knees, no doubt temporarily staining his white pants, and embraced her, holding her as he had never truly held anyone else before. Rin's face met the soft fur of his shoulder. It was like a feather pillow, and it instantly made her feel a little bit warmer. It was rather soothing, in fact.

"I will come back for you." Their eyes met for a long time. Sesshomaru had withdrawn just as quickly. He used his own fingers to wipe away the last of her tears.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

. . .

"Rin! Get back here, you brat!" A farmer thundered from afar, his voice echoing through the fields.

She was running as fast as her limbs could carry her. The feel of the wind against her face, the feel of the moist undergrowth against her bare feet, or simply the thrill of the act of running seemed to always rejuvenate her. She was passing homes too quickly, laughing as she did, with one large watermelon on one arm and the other holding a small bag of apples. These were no doubt stolen from the fields, not that it had to be.

It had been nearly ten years since Sesshomaru had insisted on her staying in a human village. She was seventeen now, turning eighteen in a few more months. That was considered a very ripe age for finding a respectable suitor and settling down. But Rin had other things in mind.

At the age of seventeen, Rin was more carefree and mischievous than ever. She regularly stole food that would have been given to her for free anyway due to her status as Priestess Kaede's apprentice. But she didn't steal them just because she was hungry. She stole them because the very act of taking someone else's things and making them angry thrilled her.

Nobody messed with her, either. It may have been simply because she was a crafty person who liked to mess with people, or maybe it was because she was Kaede's apprentice. But the closest reason to the truth was simply because she was protected by the most powerful demon in the world.

Now, most thieves—and common folk—were dressed in rags or otherwise bland kimonos. Anyone and everyone in Kaede's village could tell Rin from a mile off simply because of her colourful and ridiculously expensive kimonos, gifted to her by Sesshomaru himself. The number of kimonos she had was a popular debate in town. Some say she had hundreds of them, others thousands. Yet no matter how much they pestered her with this question, she only laughed. And so it remained a mystery.

Back to the story, now; Rin was running away with the stolen goods and not really watching where she was going. She was especially excited that day for several reasons, the biggest of which was because she expected Sesshomaru to visit her again on that day. He often visited her at least once a week on random days, but she had long ago developed a sixth sense for predicting his patterns. She was so wrapped up in her excitement in fact that she failed to see the finely-dressed aristocrat before she bumped into him, causing the watermelon to fall down and break, spilling its liquid contents, and the apples to scatter on the dirt.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin dusted her yellow butterfly kimono, which was one of her favourites, and looked back up to Sesshomaru. He had an amused expression on his face, causing Rin to smile wider.

"Out irritating the villagers again, Rin?" He mused.

"I can't help myself." Rin admitted without remorse. In fact, she seemed almost proud of it. She dusted her kimono, her eyes still glued to Sesshomaru's face. It was as if she'd forgotten all about the fruits. Sesshomaru bent down to collect the apples and put them into the small sack once more. "T-thank you." Rin stammered as she accepted it from him.

"You should be more careful." He said. "I have a present for you."

"Is it a kimono?" Rin asked, bright-eyed and full of interest. Sesshomaru reached into his own kimono to reveal his latest present, a white kimono with pink cherry blossoms adorning it.

"That's the most beautiful one yet, Sesshomaru." Kaede said from behind him. Rin accepted the kimono from Sesshomaru as they both turned to face Kaede. "But she has enough kimonos, don't you think? You should have gotten her shoes; god knows you're the only one who can make her wear them."

Rin stuck her tongue out immaturely at Kaede. She tugged on Sesshomaru's arm, capturing his attention right away. "Will you stay for a little while this time, my lord? Even just for lunch?"

"What a request!" Rin looked down surprisingly at Jaken, who she had not noticed until then. "The great Lord Sesshomaru dining with humans! You should be ashamed of yourself for so much as thinking that—"

"Alright." Sesshomaru said nonchalantly. "I'll stay for lunch."

"Great! I'll go get everyone." Rin said as she ran the other way, her arms flying on her sides. Jaken was feeling pretty small, not that he wasn't used to the feeling yet.

"She's learned a lot, you know." Kaede said wistfully once Rin was out of earshot. "But I guess there's no sense in delaying the inevitable. I'm sure you'll take good care of her."

Sesshomaru looked to the direction Rin had gone pensively and sighed inwardly. He had both longed for and dreaded this day for different reasons. But he supposed that Kaede was right; there was no sense in delaying the inevitable.

. . .

Rin didn't think that Sesshomaru would have agreed to lunch had he known she would invite his half-demon, half-human brother Inuyasha. It wasn't like her lord would hold it against her, though, and Kagome did say to her before that it would be nice if the brothers got along even just once in a while.

Sesshomaru didn't seem to mind at all, but she knew that he had a natural talent for ignoring his little brother. Inuyasha, however, was the problem. He was rigid and twitching, guarding his food as if Sesshomaru would take if from him at any given moment. Kagome had already scolded him several times for it, but Inuyasha was never one to take an insult lying down.

"I don't see why he has to be here when Kaede's house is just up the hill." Inuyasha whined for all to hear. "It's our house—"

"And they're our guests!" Kagome argued, barely managing to keep a straight face. She had gotten the feeling that Sesshomaru was finally going to pop the question to Rin that day, which was why she insisted on a big family lunch together with them both. Besides, with Rin around, Sesshomaru was more or less harmless. "So how are you, Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, hoping that some conversation would help quiet Inuyasha's unnecessary tantrum.

"That's _Lord_ Sesshomaru to you, human!" Jaken answered automatically, his irritatingly high-pitched voice hurting their ears.

"Who cares?" Inuyasha retorted, his mood sour.

"Why you—" Jaken was turning into a dangerous shade of red in anger now despite his sickly green natural skin stone.

"Jaken, silent." Sesshomaru ordered coolly. Jaken immediately froze. "Rin?" He had long ago noticed her empty plate. The girl was already stuffed, having eaten way too fast. She looked to him enthusiastically, eager to please him. "Will you come outside with me? There's something I'd like to ask you now." Rin cocked her head to one side in curiosity.

"Of course, my lord." She finally answered.

Kagome had hidden her growing smile behind her hand as Rin and Sesshomaru left their home for some privacy, no doubt heading for the clearing around the Bone Eater's Well. Inuyasha looked to her rudely.

"What are you smiling about, Kagome?"

"Oh, nothing." Kagome sighed. "You're just as dense as ever."

"Wait for me, my lord!" Jaken called out as he scrambled to his tiny legs, but Kagome held him by the collar of his shirt.

"I think it's best if you stay here."

. . .

"Look at the sky, Lord Sesshomaru! That cloud almost looks like Jaken, only it's not green." Rin pointed out cheerfully and as she gazed up on the clouds overhead.

Sesshomaru, behind her, looked up to the midday sky, following her gaze. _It does look like that little imp_, he thought. "Rin, turn around and face me." He said. The girl did as he asked of her. While she had grown tremendously in the past years, her face had yet to change to him. Every time he would look at her face, he saw the brave little child he'd rescued so many years ago.

"Yes, my lord?" Her eyes were as big and bright as always, childlike and yet so very distinctly that of a mature and intelligent woman's.

"You may resume your travels with me if you so wish. You've spent enough time in this human village as it is." Sesshomaru watched very carefully the way the expressions seemed to dance in her eyes. It was a very grave thing to him, this moment. It wasn't often that he had felt so anxious.

In his thoughts, Rin had always smiled very brightly when he would ask her to return to his side. She would laugh and embrace him and sing her sweet melodies and it would be as it was before. But Rin wasn't smiling now. Her bright expression was slowly growing dimmer and Sesshomaru saw that the light reflected in her eyes was growing ever darker. Did she not want to return to his side? His heart was beating quickly.

"You want me to leave Lady Kaede and the village to...to be with you again?" Rin repeated. Sesshomaru felt the wallowing pain of rejection accumulating.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Sesshomaru interjected in his defence. "It's only an option." He regretted this as soon as he did. He had just made himself seem vulnerable to this young girl. On the other hand, Rin smiled, realizing what had just happened. She had unintentionally trampled on his pride.

"A little girl once promised me that she would follow you forever." Sesshomaru's face softened. "I'm aware that I'm not the most innocent nor am I the most morally good girl in the world, but that little girl's heart still beats within me and...I don't break my promises. Especially that ones I make to myself." Rin tucked a long lock of Sesshomaru's silvery hair behind his ear, making him suddenly realize just how close their faces had become. "I will go with you, my lord. I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if you let me."

Sesshomaru, in his delight, had suddenly pulled her closer. He kissed her hair deeply before letting her go. It was very out of character for him, and he would never have done it had it been any other girl before him.

"Ah-Un will be pleased to travel with you again, too." Rin said as soon as she recovered from the initial surprise. "I've taken very good care of him here, but nothing beats the thrill of travel." A silent understanding passed between them. "But let me stay here just one more night, my lord, if only to say goodbye to Lady Kaede and the village and the trees and the flower gardens."

"Very well. Just one more night."

. . .

"Where's Sesshomaru, Rin? Isn't he going to sleep here with you?" Kagome asked as she laid down the mats to sleep. Rin adjusted hers and shrugged.

"He's always preferred sleeping outside. He's really more in tune with nature than one might think." Rin said, confident in her answer. It was true; she had never seen Sesshomaru sleep indoors. In fact, she had never even seen Sesshomaru sleep at all. He rested often, sitting on the base of a tree watching as she and Jaken went about in their antics, but she had never seen him actually close his eyes for more than a few seconds. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure as to whether he slept at all.

"Maybe you should check up on him anyway." Kagome requested. Rin shook her head.

"I'll have him from tomorrow onwards. You and the family are top priority. I don't know when I'll be seeing any of you again."

Kagome smiled. "I know. But you should go anyway. It's what you want to do, isn't it?"

Rin sighed, glancing out the open window and past the stars one last time.

. . .

"You're always watching the stars."

Sesshomaru turned to see Rin take a seat beside him. They were on a short cliff overlooking the village only meters away from Lady Kaede's house. They were snuggled up against a great oak tree under an infinitely large blanket of constellations, most of which were known to Sesshomaru by their ancient names.

"I used to watch them a lot, too, especially back when you first brought me to live in this village." Rin smiled, eyes glued to the stars above her. She traced to trace as many of them with her eyes. "With you, I never knew when or where I would get breakfast or lunch or dinner if at all. I wouldn't know where I'd be the next day, or even when I woke up after napping on Ah-Un's back. In the village my life fell into a routine; wake up to the sound of the neighbour's chickens in the morning, fetch for of their eggs for breakfast, catch some fish for lunch, and then dine at Kagome's for dinner sometimes. I get to see a lot of people here. Kagome and Inuyasha live right across us. And Kohaku visits sometimes. He's always busy. He's travelling, like you, slaying demons everywhere he goes." Then she smiled. "But then nightfall would come and all I could do is stare at the stars before I dream, wondering if you were looking at the same stars too."

"Rin..." Sesshomaru murmured. Rin rested her head against her shoulder, feeling his soft fur caress her cheeks. She smiled and she slowly drifted to sleep. Sesshomaru did nothing to move her. He quite liked having her close.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

If Sesshomaru had ever thought things would be exactly the way they were before, he was quite obviously wrong.

First of all, despite Sesshomaru's initial denial, Rin was a woman now, not a child. She retained her love of flowers, though she had also developed a newfound love of herbs. Rin also still liked running energetically from place to place, laughing, annoying Jaken as she did. So that much remained the same.

What has changed was everything. The way she dressed was rather unladylike. She managed to turn the elegant kimonos Sesshomaru gifted her into short, sexually appealing dresses which exposed her pale but well-shaped legs. She also went around with a bottle of sake strapped to her side, no doubt stolen from nearby villages as was her custom of getting by. And as if those habits were not enough to irritate Sesshomaru, she had also begun to ignore him at least sometimes.

Does she do it on purpose? Sesshomaru would often wonder. Rin had always liked to daydream, but it had never gotten to the point that she would purposely dodge his questions.

"Where were you last night?" He'd ask. Rin would be humming to herself, braiding flowers, and otherwise occupying herself.

"Nowhere." Then back to the flowers her attention would go, as if they had never left them.

He put up with it. He saw no other option. But then the weeks would pass and Rin would bleed as human women bleed every now and then. And as if the scent of her blood was not distracting enough, Rin was often very moody during those times. Safe to say, it drove Sesshomaru wild; internally, of course. He would never admit to such a thing out loud.

He was beginning to have second thoughts every time he would leave Rin for she would always take the chance to wander off into the nearby human villages to entertain herself. Maybe he wouldn't admit it, not even to himself, but he was disappointed each time he came back to where he had left his ward and he would not receive a warm welcome from Rin. And this happened all the more often as time passed.

They were drifting apart. Despite being physically closer to each other than ever, they were drifting apart. Sesshomaru could not accept this. And so one night, he followed Rin out of their little camp and into a lonely river under the light of the full moon.

She was in the middle of the little river, perched carefully upon a flat rock. She had somehow managed to get there with only her feet getting wet. Rin peered down and stared at her reflection for the longest time, memorizing the contours of her own face, her hands occasionally caressing her soft features. And for a short moment – barely a moment, really – Sesshomaru found himself lost as he watched her.

Was she truly that mesmerizing, that even the great Lord Sesshomaru would look at her so, even for just a split second?

"Just as this youth and beauty blooms today, it will be gone tomorrow. The years will surely rob me of this reflection in time just as it does for all of us." She murmured. It was only due to his keen hearing that he even heard her at all.

"As it is for all mortals," Sesshomaru found himself repeating. "No. Rin will never die. Not for as long as I live, she will never die."

**. . .**

And so the days passed.

The group settled into a sort of routine and all was well for a short period of time. That is, until one fateful incident that changes everything.

"Where do you think you're going, young woman?" Jaken quipped.

"I'll only be gone a short time. I'm starving." Rin called out.

So off Rin went deeper and deeper into the woods hoping to find some edible mushrooms or an apple tree perhaps. She could barely remember the way back due to the fact that her sense of direction had always been lacking. No matter; she was sure that Sesshomaru would find her should she ever get truly lost.

She was picking berries off a thick bush when she heard it. It was the sound of a young man pleading for his life. Alert and curious, Rin stuffed the berries she'd collected inside her kimono and pressed further towards the sound of the young man's voice.

"Please spare my life. You can have all my money. Just please spare me." The young man begged.

Rin peaked from behind a tall and thick tree trunk. She saw that the young man was most definitely a rich man just from the way that he dressed. The dead bodies of what seemed to be his guards were littered on the grass. Rin was petrified with fear when she realized that the men who threatened this rich man's life were in fact bandits; just like the ones who had killed her family so many years before.

"Lord Sesshomaru, help me." She whispered. She meant to sit on the ground and rock herself when she accidentally pushed against a bush, creating noise and startling the bandits.

"Who's there?" One of the bandits called out. Rin cursed under her breath.

"Stop playing games. Come out and give us all your money and we might spare your life." Another said bitterly. But Rin had no money; not that she believed they would spare her either way. She had no need of money for she had always stolen food and necessities instead of buying them. It was how she had lived since she was only a child. The only things that she owned legitimately were the kimonos Sesshomaru would bring her.

They found her. One of the burlier bandits pulled her out from the bush by the collar of her kimono. She struggled, but it was all in vain. The rich man stared at her in wonder.

"Put me down or Lord Sesshomaru will kill you." She tried to say, but the bandits would have none of it. They held her in a way that was choking her.

"Eh, she's pretty. Very pretty." The one who held her said. Rin hated the sound of his voice already.

She called again for Sesshomaru, but he was nowhere in sight still. Losing hope of being saved by her lord, Rin began to devise a plan. There were three bandits in total still standing; the rich men's two guards had managed to kill off four bandits before being slain themselves. Two of the bandits were injured; the one who held her sustained severe leg injury while another bandit, the scrawniest one, had minor arm injuries.

She reached down into the opening of her kimono and pulled out a sharp dagger she'd stolen weeks ago from a travelling merchant. It was a fancy old thing with a jewelled hilt and a pretty blade. Without another second wasted, Rin plunged it into her captor's neck, thus killing him. She landed on her front and scrambled to her legs just as soon as the other two recovered from shock and went closer to kill her and avenge their fallen comrade. The skinny, injured man couldn't do much. The pain in his arms prevented him from aiming properly when he swung his crooked sword around. And so Rin went for the uninjured bandit first, plunging the blade into what she assumed to be his heart. The last bandit went down without much fuss. Rin couldn't believe the blood in her hands at first, but as soon as she saw the rich man before her she felt a little better. True, she may have killed three people, but they were bandits and it was all an act of self-defence. Sesshomaru killed for the pettiest reasons.

"You saved me..." The rich man said as he struggled to stand. "Thank you."

"No problem, I guess." _I still can't believe what just happened._ Rin thought. _It must be from watching Lord Sesshomaru fight all the time. In that case, I must be a pro._ She dismissed such thoughts as soon as her stomach began to grumble again. The rich man's face lit up.

"Will you come dine with me at my castle? I see you are hungry."

"I really should head back..." Rin said, thinking about Sesshomaru.

"It's the least I could do after you saved my life. Please."

Rin sighed and then smiled. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

. . .

Rin had seen many human castles in her recent travels, but none of them could top this one.

The rich man, Shuichi, turned out to be the young lord of it. He had told her that he was simply taking a short walk around the woods when the bandits came to kill him. The tour lasted far too long for her taste, but the lunch Shuichi's servants provided made up for it. But what really lifted her spirits was the sake that he offered her.

Now, while Rin carried sake with her all the time, she wasn't necessarily a drunkard. She chose to drink only on special occasions, but when she did drink it was always to get drunk. She was mentally debating with herself as to whether saving a young lord's life was a special enough occasion to let loose after so long.

But apparently, she did not have much time left to choose as Shuichi's servants almost immediately informed him of a demon that lurked outside the castle walls. When they described him to have fair skin, light hair and almond-coloured eyes, Rin nearly jumped at her seat and mentally berated herself for being so insensitive. Lord Sesshomaru had come to get her.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality." Rin said quickly. "But I have to go."

"But the demon—"

"Won't hurt me."

"Wait!"

Rin scurried to the outside of the castle. Shuichi followed closely behind her, still attempting to make her stay even just a little while longer. The guards warned her about the demon time and time again, but she ignored their pleas. Finally, she reached the outside and almost immediately spotted what looked to be an irritated Sesshomaru and an angry Jaken.

"Rin! Do you know of how long Lord Sesshomaru and I have waited for your return? And now you go inside this human castle—"

"Shut up, Jaken." Sesshomaru said. "We're going."

"But—"

"Wait, Rin!" Shuichi called out one last time. He came closer towards her and took her hand in his. "Please, my lovely Rin. Stay here and marry me for I have never seen such a brave and beautiful woman before."

It seemed as if the entire world paused. Rin's eyes widened in surprise. Jaken's mouth fell wide open, nearly hitting the ground. Sesshomaru...well, Sesshomaru was more than stunned. He turned to glare at the young lord.

"Please, Rin. Stay and marry me." He pleaded. Sesshomaru was more than ready to tear his stupid mouth off. Luckily, Rin spoke up before he did.

"I'm sorry, Shuichi, but I can't possibly." She smiled sympathetically at him. "This is goodbye."

"Wait—"

But Rin only waved at him as she returned to Sesshomaru's side. And they walked together with Jaken deeper and deeper into the woods until Shuichi could no longer see them.

. . .

Sesshomaru could not help getting disturbed by what had happened.

He could not recognize what feelings seeing that young man propose to Rin stirred in him. They were strong, but they confused him for he had never felt that way before. Possessiveness was common enough, but he had never had a reason to be jealous of anyone before. And still, he could not muster a reason for it to happen now of all times.

Rin hummed to herself as she picked flowers to her heart's content. It was nearly sunset and the flower garden was big and wide and filled with lilies and chrysanthemums and hundreds of other varieties Rin could not name. Sesshomaru sat against a large cherry blossom tree whose branches seemed to form a lovely flower canopy above him. It was only fitting.

"Rin," Sesshomaru reluctantly asked, "What happened between you and that human man?"

"Huh?" Rin paused at first, surprised by the question.

"Never mind; it was nothing." Sesshomaru quipped suddenly. Rin cocked her head to one side in genuine interest.

"I saved him for a bunch of bandits and he invited me to his home. What of it?"

_Bandits? What?_ Sesshomaru mentally repeated to himself. _She was in trouble?_ He mentally berated himself for having been to clueless. If it hadn't been for Jaken's whining, perhaps he could have heard her call his name.

"Nothing at all." Sesshomaru said. Rin smiled suddenly and began tracing the small pink petals of the cherry blossoms she held in her hand. She had braided them together with lilies to form a large necklace of flowers.

"I'm not really interested in settling down yet. I know I'm plenty old enough at eighteen, but I don't have to right away."

"Perhaps there's another reason?"

Rin blinked at him. And then she sighed. "Bend down a little, would you?"

Sesshomaru followed, bending his head down a little as he waited for her answer to his question. To his surprise, Rin only placed the necklace over his head. Despite his pride, he didn't take the necklace off. Instead, he glanced around him for the prettiest flower and using his telekinetic powers lifted it off the ground and placed it on Rin's ear.

"Now we're even." He said finally.


End file.
